Musical Pairings

“It sounds like a Spoon album,” is how a friend described Spoon‘s latest full length They Want My Soul. And, for the most part, she’s right. It’s fastidiously produced. It’s a rock ‘n roll album. It packs plenty of “boom” to stand out at a crowded, lively gathering and, yet, sounds even better on a pair Continue…

Spoon's 'They Want My Soul' is distinctive enough to stand out within the context of the band's already excellent catalog.

A strong cup of black coffee. Not stale diner coffee — unfussy, small batch, brewed-with-love coffee. That’s what comes to my mind when I listen to the debut LP from The Bones of J.R. Jones. It’s bold, dark and energetic with a rustic, whiskey-tinted swagger. In other words, it’ll light you up while simultaneously filling you with a comforting warmth. Indeed, Jonathon Linaberry, the Continue…

“This morning I woke up on the floor / thinking I had never dreamed before,” sings Wye Oak vocalist Jenn Wasner on “Before,” the opening track to the Baltimore-based duo’s newest release Shriek. The lyrics are an indication of just how uncertain and lost Wasner was feeling when she set to the work of writing material for Continue…

The music industry can be a difficult business. An artist can write great songs but still not find the audience they deserve. For example, despite a number of excellent releases, it took years before The National received the recognition their music warranted. Even the now widely well regarded album Alligator was a sleeper hit. Similarly, despite a solid discography, Haley Bonar has maintained a relatively low Continue…

In a letter Sharon Van Etten drafted to accompany pre-orders of her latest album, Are We There, she describes the record as “very much me, being strong, being weak, being open – being myself.” Of course, the Brooklyn-based songwriter has never seemed shy when sharing intimate feelings with her listeners. In fact, that emotional directness is, at least partially, what Continue…

Samuel T. Herring was sitting alone backstage at the Hype Hotel at SXSW shirtless and, unsurprisingly, drenched in an impressive amount of sweat. Less than a minute earlier the Future Islands frontman had been dressed in his trademark tight-fitting black shirt and khakis vamping across the stage in a manner that simultaneously called to mind the over-the-top theatrics of William Shatner Continue…

I suppose it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the band that the new Woods album is great. After all, they’ve developed a reputation for both consistency and exceptional songwriting. With more full length albums than you can count on one hand, they haven’t released a dog yet. Perhaps more surprising then, in light of their exceptional back Continue…

Boston’s Quilt (Anna Fox Rochinski, Shane Butler and John Andrews) have long demonstrated a knack for thoughtfully constructed psych-folk jams built from wide-open structures and hazy, billowing melodies. Indeed, their 2012 self-titled LP was heavy on reverb drenched riffs, quasi-mystic sentimentality, and grooves that swirled in beautifully loose, irregular circulars. On Quilt it always appeared Continue…

What we’ve always loved about Wooden Shjips is the way the Portland/San Francisco-based psych-rockers can capture a groove and ride it off into the distant landscape with completely understated swagger. There’s a steady, driving approach to their rhythms and minimalist sensibility to their overall songwriting that makes their tunes the perfect soundtrack for languid, warm Continue…

The War On Drugs, the Philadelphia-led project of Adam Granduciel, are one of those bands that seem to get better with each successive album. Their latest album, Lost In The Dream, is more focused, more direct, and more sure-footed than it’s predecessors. Indeed, Lost In The Dream is Granduciel’s finest work yet. Like the band’s Continue…